Dwyane Wade leaves Heat game with New Jersey Nets

Published February 17, 2010

| AP

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — All-Star MVP Dwyane Wade strained his left calf grabbing a first-quarter rebound and was forced to leave the Miami Heat's game against the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.

Minutes after the game, Wade was wearing a walking cast on his foot and was not certain about his status for the Heat's game Friday night in Memphis.

"It's sore right now," Wade said after being limited to eight points in the Heat's 87-84 win. "We'll see how I feel over the next day or so. We'll take it day by day and see how it's going. If it doesn't get better, we'll take a MRI. Right now, I'll just get treatment and do the therapy."

Wade, who leads the Heat in points, assists and steals, said he was injured with 4:34 to play after collecting a rebound.

"I just pushed off when I came down with the rebound," he said. "I just heard it pop. I thought to myself 'Whoa.' I took two more steps and stopped."

After pulling up lame, Wade had to be helped to the locker room, and the Heat feared the worst.

"From our perspective, hopefully it is not worse than it initially looked," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "To see somebody hobble off like that, you're thinking the worst."

Wade said he hopes to get back as soon as possible.

"We don't know at this point," Spoelstra said. "He doesn't know. I think it's the same calf that has been giving him problems the last couple of weeks. Right now, it's just a strain. We'll see how he feels tomorrow and we'll go from there."

Wade was proud of his teammates for finding a way to win a team-high fourth straight game this season.

"We've got games to play," he said. "My team mates are playing and I have to do my job to get back out there as soon as I can."

The injury ended Wade's streak of scoring in double figures in 148 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the NBA to LeBron James (255).